Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling and Analysis of Heat Transfer in Multichannel Dimple Plate Heat Exchanger

In the present study, Computational Fluid Dynamics is used for heat transfer studies in the dimple, and flat plate heat exchangers. By employing water as a working medium (fluid), the same and different flow analyses were numerically studied. SOLID WORKS 2018 software was used for the study. The study primarily investigated the effect of the flow rate of hot fluid on the overall heat transfer coefficient. The study also analyzed the influence of hot fluid’s Reynolds number on cold fluid’s Nusselt number. It was observed that an increase in the mass flow rate of the hot fluid from 0.016 to 0.067 kg/s resulted in an increase in the heat transfer coefficient from 65 to 298 W/(m2.K) for the dimple plate heat exchanger (DPHE). Meanwhile, an increase in the Reynolds number of the hot fluid (from 200 to 1000), induced an increase in the Nusselt number of the cold fluid from 1.9 to 8.7 for DPHE. A correlation was developed to calculate the Nusselt number for the same flow analysis of the flat plate heat exchanger (FPHE). The study also compared the performance of the DPHE with that of the FPHE. The results of the same flow analysis indicated that the DPHE exhibited a Nusselt number value 39% greater than the FPHE at the highest mass flow rate of 0.067 kg/s, while in different flow analysis, the DPHE demonstrated a Nusselt number value 41% greater than the FPHE at the highest mass flow rate of 0.067 kg/s.